Organized Industrial Zones (OIZs) are used as a main and important industry policy tool in Turkey. In 2012, the number of OIZs is 263 with 148 active and 115 planned ones. Network between the firms reveal the knowledge spillovers which is inevitable for economic growth of a country for neo-classical economists. In this thesis, existence of intra-OIZ and intra-industry knowledge spillovers in Ankara and Istanbul is tested by the help of an export decision function. As it considers the spatial dependence between the regional units the spatial econometric method is preferred for the analysis. The data set is taken from the &ldquo / Field Research Survey&rdquo / of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (SMEDO). It consists of 62,137 firm level observations from 24 manufacturing industries in 81 provinces between 2004 and 2007. After the cleaning process of the data, 1545 and 1172 observations are left for Ankara and Istanbul, respectively. The results show that the size of the firm (which is proxied by logarithm of total labor), technology (which is proxied by computer usage), organizational proximity and foreign language knowledge of the administrator are the common determinants of export decision for Ankara and Istanbul for both intra-IOZ and intra-industry relations when spatial dependence is not ignored. Besides these variables, in Ankara percentage of high skilled labor is significant while in Istanbul cluster proximity is significant. Moreover, for Ankara while for intra-OIZ relations the spatial effect is one third of the total effect, it is one fourth of the total effect for intra-industry relation. For Istanbul one fourth of the total effect is from spatial effects for both intra-OIZ and intra-industry relations.

The empirical literature in economic geography has recently dealt with two fundamental questions, whether growth or innovation is spatially bounded or not and how far the economic growth is determined by knowledge. In this thesis, relations between economic growth and knowledge relation is discussed from spatial spillovers perspective with the help of spatial econometric techniques. Adding city-region discussion to the existing literature, the thesis aims to evaluate the economic growth and knowledge spillovers from a broader perspective. The selected cases are two dynamic and rapidly transforming centers, namely izmir and Antalya City-regions and the results suggest the strong relevance of proximity effects and spillovers in both of the cases. Moreover, the analyses show that growth and knowledge spillovers operate in opposite directions rather than a parallel pattern as expected in Knowledge Based Economy discussions.

The success of the local development experiences after the 1980s is associated with the non-economic components as well as the economic ones in the contemporary development literature. Most apparently, the literature seems to be intensified on the local institutions and on the local social interaction which creates reciprocal cooperative trust relations. These socially constructed local institutions refer to the local rules, routines and patterns having been directly influencing the relation among the local actors of development. They are also seen to be the organizational actors of development being responsible for the social inheritance of traditional and even tacit local knowledge and facilitating the adaptation of other local actors to the changing supra local networks. In many cases, however, the age groups dominating these successful development experiences have come to the edge of or already exceeded the age limits of active workforce cohorts currently. The coming decade, therefore, indicates a succession period from these generations leading to the emergence of successful development experiences to their successors. This period is identified in this study as the generational transition. This concept represents a newly emerging field of contradiction and this study analyses and conceptualizes the influences of generational transition on the local pathways of development both in terms of the tensions between diverse generations, and in context of tensions between the institutions and successor generations and among the institutions being socially constructed by diverse generations. These tensions are analyzed in this study through the Kayseri experience which has created a successful local development practice after the 1980s by focusing the generational transformation of both the local development path and the socio-spatial patterns of the town. This analysis indicates three vitally important outcomes of generational transition. Firstly, the local socio-spatial institutions have a crucial importance in the social inheritance of the traditional local knowledge and they have been transformed by the influences of generational transition. Secondly, it is found that the economic organizations have been transformed generationally in tune with the generational transition. And finally it is found that the generational transition has directly been influencing the local development path by destroying or changing some institutions and by creating some new ones.

The present study investigated whether cluster potentials could be identified in the geographical area within the boundaries of Samsun province, and if identified, how such a potential could be promoted through corresponding support measures. Development of policy recommendations for promotion of identified cluster potential was the principal goal of the study. The course of the study was characterized by a cluster-based policy-making process in the policy environment, i.e. Samsun province. The process includes a descriptive part, i.e. cluster analysis, and a prescriptive part, i.e. determining policy goals and designing policy instruments. In the literature review, a guide to the field study was developed by review of various approaches to cluster concept / common features of clusters and the competitive advantages these give rise to / various practices in cluster-based policy development, and various cluster analysis methods. The field study starts with the initial identification of need for policy intervention, at which stage the rationale for pursuing a cluster-based policy in the specific conditions of Samsun and Turkey was discussed. The &ldquo / clusters as sectors&rdquo / approach was utilized in the identification of region&rsquo / s (potential) clusters and selection of the cluster as the subject of analysis and policy development. The analysis of industrial sectors in Samsun&rsquo / s economy was followed by selection of the target sector via employing various criteria assessing the importance of these sectors in terms of value added to the regional economy, and the clustering potential. Accordingly, furniture sector was selected, and the agglomeration of furniture sector enterprises in Kutlukent locality was identified as the potential cluster to be the subject of analysis and policy development. Following the identification of the potential cluster, the descriptive part was completed by second-stage micro-level analysis of the identified potential cluster, by which detailed information about the potential cluster was presented. At that phase, cluster potential of the structure was assessed by examining the elements in cluster value and production chain / public and private business support infrastructure / the flow of materials and goods in the chain / untraded relationships between the elements / characteristics of enterprises and workforce / and innovation performance. This comprehensive in-depth analysis of the cluster provided the required information to identify the specific needs of the cluster for cluster-based policy intervention. In the last part of the thesis, i.e. prescriptive part, cluster-oriented policy recommendations were developed including the determination of policy goal and the design/selection of policy instruments. The necessary information was collected by two-stage expert interviews, and by overall scan of the enterprises involved in the cluster via enterprise survey, which was realized in interviews with all of the enterprises. Six experts and 283 enterprises participated in the study. The results of the analysis showed that, while Kutlukent furniture cluster had some features, which are common in effective cluster models, the cluster lacks some critical features, which are crucial for effective functioning of a successful cluster. Hence, Kutlukent furniture cluster was defined as a &ldquo / potential&rdquo / cluster, which should be promoted by utilizing the existing potentials and strengths, and by addressing the weaknesses and obstacles identified in the analysis of the cluster, via appropriate cluster-oriented policy measures, which were proposed in the prescriptive part of the policy-making process. By these measures, the elements of Kutlukent potential cluster would be able to realize competitive advantages associated with clustering as in successful cluster models.

The aim of this study is to analyze regional disparities and to test the convergence hypothesis across the provinces of Turkey. The study also attempts to analyze the spatial spillovers in the growth process of the provinces. The analyses cover the 1987-2001 period. Two alternative methodologies are used in the analyses. First, the methodology of &amp / #946 / -convergence based on cross-sectional regressions is used and effects of spatial dependence are analyzed using spatial econometric techniques. Second, Markov chain analysis is used and spatial dependence is integrated using spatial Markov chains. Results of both methodologies signal nonexistence of convergence and existence of spatial spillovers in the growth process of provinces.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation as a tool for local/regional development of underdeveloped border regions, and whether it is appropriate for Turkey&rsquo / s border regions. The basic statement is that the trajectories of intense economic relations do not always let cross-border co-operation / it can develop through supportive policies fed by the active participation of cross-border actors. The scope of this study is, - to examine changing theoretical ideas about borders and border relations, - to review some of the important changes affecting the cross-border cooperations / and the implications of transformations in the global mechanisms through new network relations determined within the multi-level governance approach, - to develop a framework for analysing the success of cross-border cooperation, - to discuss the cross-border co-operation trajectories through the world experiences and Turkish case, - to search for a new model This study will focus on a set of theoretical tools involving independent dimensions such as governance, economy and social structure. Along these theoretical perspectives, the importance of a cross-border co-operation for local/regional development will be emphasised through the case of Hopa-Batumi border region. Handling of this case will be an attempt to put forward the opportunities and barriers of a cross-border co-operation for Turkish border regions. This study is developed by the examination of theoretical literature, generating comparative analysis of world experiences with reference to available literature, and Turkish border regions executed with the newspapers archives and legal arrangements, and case study through in-depth interviews.